Meeting: Did You ...

... write about everything that happened at the meeting? Or just the things you thought were most newsworthy?

And how would you rank the newsworthiness of the items that took place at the meeting? These were the things, in order of occurrence, at the school board meeting:

1. Retiring teachers honored
2. New budget approved that includes construction of a new school, pay raises
3. Board keeps summer school intact
4. Board decides to keep current biology textbooks and not teach creationism
5. School volunteers honored


Does the order of importance match the order of occurrence? How would you rank these things, in terms of importance?

The importance ranking should match your order of presentation, regardless of the order in which things took place. 

And when we talk about importance, think about what things are the most interesting or relevant or useful to your audience. Think about what is most unusual that took place. Think about what would have the most impact. Think about what people would be most curious about, or wanting to know about.

If you're not sure if your ranking of items based on newsworthiness is the best, here's a good rule of thumb: the item you wrote about the most is probably the one worth the best placement. The one you wrote about the least should probably be presented last, or maybe even not at all. 

I'd argue these were proper orders of importance. From the school meeting: 

1. Board decides to keep current biology textbooks and not teach creationism

2 or 3. New budget approved that includes construction of a new school, pay raises
3 or 2. Board keeps summer school intact
4 or 5. Retiring teachers honored
4 or 5. School volunteers honored


Our job as journalists isn't to necessarily record everything, and put things in the order in which it took place. That's stenography. Rather, we decide what was most important, and rank things in the order of importance.

What did you do, and why?

Meeting: Lede With The News

Still a bit of shakiness with identifying what the news really is for the lede. The news isn't that things were discussed; it's what was done or not done. Too many ledes or section starts defaulted to things were discussed. That's not the news, right?

This was a lede that went in that direction:

The Grand Ledge School Board discussed several issues at its meeting last night.

The problem here is that the news isn't that the school board addressed items; it'swhat the items were that were addressed. From this lede, you don't know if they gave out ribbons to old ladies or declared war on Russia. It's too vague. Those ledes sound like this imaginary football game story lede:

The MSU football team played a game Saturday night.


And that's a lede we'd never write, right? This next lede was better in that regard:

The Grand Ledge School Board discussed its budget, evolution vs. creationism in textbooks and summer school at its meeting last night.

You do identify what the issues were, but it still falls short of ultimate outcome and end result; that being what actions they took regarding these issues: for example, with the school board it's that they approved a new budget, considered teaching creationism, rejected canceling summer school.

That lede sounds like this modified game lede:

The MSU football team played Notre Dame Saturday night.

And that lede still doesn't go far enough toward ultimate outcome and end result. 
This modified football lede does:

The MSU football team beat Notre Dame 63-0 Saturday night.

So, now let's apply that same fixation on end result on this school board lede:

The Grand Ledge School Board approved a new budget and voted to keep evolution-based textbooks and summer school at its meeting last night.

Much better, right? You now know precisely how things ended.

But it wasn't necessary that you include every element in your lede. A big part of journalism is deciding what is most newsworthy, and ranking that news accordingly (or even excluding things if you feel the newsworthiness was limited or simply not there).

This lede zeroed in on a single topic:

The Grand Ledge School Board put evolution ahead of creationism in opting to keep current textbooks at this week's board meeting.

And that's fine. I'm not saying the book issue was necessarily the lede item; I think valid arguments could be made for any of the items being the most interesting, relevant and/or useful. Readers don't need us to summarize a whole meeting; they could probably Google an agenda themselves. What they need journalists for is to make sense of the news and tell them what matters most.

So don't be afraid to make decisions, based on the evidence and what may impact or interest readers the most.

One lede took ultimate outcome beyond the meeting. Remember that while summer school would be kept this year, the board wants to study the matter? Well, this was one of your ledes:

The Grand Ledge School Board County Commission promised to consider the future of summer school after extending such classes for one year at yesterday's board meeting.

This is what I call a forward-looking lede; one that goes beyond what happened at an event, and is centered in what that means going forward, or what action is next as a result. When we talk about ultimate outcome, the outcome isn't that the board talked about it; it's that the board will talk about it some more. That's the latest and newest news.

Sleep: The News Is The News!

News isn't that something happened or took place. It's what, exactly, happened or took place.

Let's consider this pretend lede from a football game story:

MSU played Notre Dame in a football game Saturday.

That lede doesn't work, right? That's because the news isn't that a game was played; it's what happened at the game, something like MSU beat Notre Dame 84-0 on Saturday.

In the same way, this not-pretend lede doesn't work, either:

One of the nation’s leaders in the study of sleep, Diana Gant, was interviewed on her expertise of sleep shortage within the average person.  

The news isn't that Gant talked about expertise; the news is what her expertise found! So a better lede would have said something like:

The average person needs nine to 10 hours of sleep per night, but actually gets only about seven hours, one of the nation's leaders in the study of sleep said.

What you're missing in each case is ultimate outcome and end result: who won or lost the game, and by how much in the former; how people should sleep versus how they actually sleep in the latter.

So if you're covering a city council meeting, for example, the news isn't that there was a meeting, or even that they discussed a specific issue at the meeting; it's what action took place regarding the issue at the meeting.

Let's be sure we're hooking our stories and our basic ledes on what happened, and not just that something happened.

Missing: The News Is The News

News isn't that something happened or took place. It's what, exactly, happened or took place.

Let's consider this pretend lede from a football game story:

MSU played Notre Dame in a football game Saturday.

That lede doesn't work, right? That's because the news isn't that a game was played; it's what happened at the game, something like MSU beat Notre Dame 84-0 on Saturday.

In the same way, this not-pretend lede doesn't work, either:

The U.S. Department of Justice revealed the statistics of Michigan residents once reported as missing.

The news isn't that the justice department revealed statistics; the news is what those statistics were! So a better lede would have said something like, The U.S. Department of Justice found more than 57,000 Michigan residents were reported missing last year.


What you're missing in each case is ultimate outcome and end result: who won or lost the game, and by how much in the former; how many people are missing in the latter.

So if you're covering a city council meeting, for example, the news isn't that there was a meeting, or even that they discussed a specific issue at the meeting; it's what action took place regarding the issue at the meeting.

Let's be sure we're hooking our stories and our basic ledes on what happened, and not just that something happened.

Final Ledes: Get To The End Result

In most ledes, we want to aim for getting to the main point; that is, the end result and ultimate outcome. How did things end up?

This lede doesn't quite get there:
  
Til' death do us part is still too soon for Olivida Saleeby, who requested that the East Lansing Zoning Board allow her to bury her husband of 62 years in their backyard. 

In it, we know what the issue was, but we don't know how it ended up. The news isn't that the board was deciding the issue; it's how they decided it.

This lede goes the extra, necessary step:

“Rest in peace” remains easier said than done for Olivida Saleeby after the East Lansing Zoning Board denied her request to bury her husband in the backyard of their home.

Again, the news isn't that the burial was requested; it's that it was denied.

Meeting: Lede With The News

Still a bit of shakiness with identifying what the news really is for the lede. The news isn't that things were discussed; it's what was done or not done. Too many ledes or section starts defaulted to things were discussed. That's not the news, right?

This was a lede that went in that direction:

The Grand Ledge School Board discussed several issues at its meeting last night.

The problem here is that the news isn't that the school board addressed items; it's what the items were that were addressed. From this lede, you don't know if they gave out ribbons to old ladies or declared war on Russia. It's too vague. Those ledes sound like this imaginary football game story lede:

The MSU football team played a game Saturday night.


And that's a lede we'd never write, right? This next lede was better in that regard:

The Grand Ledge School Board discussed its budget, evolution vs. creationism in textbooks and summer school at its meeting last night.

You do identify what the issues were, but it still falls short of ultimate outcome and end result; that being what actions they took regarding these issues: for example, with the school board it's that they approved a new budget, considered teaching creationism, rejected canceling summer school.

That lede sounds like this modified game lede:

The MSU football team played Notre Dame Saturday night.

And that lede still doesn't go far enough toward ultimate outcome and end result.
This modified football lede does:

The MSU football team beat Notre Dame 63-0 Saturday night.

So, now let's apply that same fixation on end result on this school board lede:

The Grand Ledge School Board approved a new budget and voted to keep evolution-based textbooks and summer school at its meeting last night.

Much better, right? You now know precisely how things ended.

But it wasn't necessary that you include every element in your lede. A big part of journalism is deciding what is most newsworthy, and ranking that news accordingly (or even excluding things if you feel the newsworthiness was limited or simply not there).

This lede zeroed in on a single topic:

The Grand Ledge School Board put evolution ahead of creationism in opting to keep current textbooks at this week's board meeting.

And that's fine. I'm not saying the book issue was necessarily the lede item; I think valid arguments could be made for any of the items being the most interesting, relevant and/or useful. Readers don't need us to summarize a whole meeting; they could probably Google an agenda themselves. What they need journalists for is to make sense of the news and tell them what matters most.

So don't be afraid to make decisions, based on the evidence and what may impact or interest readers the most.

One lede took ultimate outcome beyond the meeting. Remember that while summer school would be kept this year, the board wants to study the matter? Well, this was one of your ledes:

The Grand Ledge School Board County Commission promised to consider the future of summer school after extending such classes for one year at yesterday's board meeting.

This is what I call a forward-looking lede; one that goes beyond what happened at an event, and is centered in what that means going forward, or what action is next as a result. When we talk about ultimate outcome, the outcome isn't that the board talked about it; it's that the board will talk about it some more. That's the latest and newest news.

Meeting: Did You ...

... write about everything that happened at the meeting? Or just the things you thought were most newsworthy?

And how would you rank the newsworthiness of the items that took place at the meeting? These were the things, in order of occurrence, at the school board meeting:

1. Retiring teachers honored
2. New budget approved that includes construction of a new school, pay raises
3. Board keeps summer school intact
4. Board decides to keep current biology textbooks and not teach creationism
5. School volunteers honored


Does the order of importance match the order of occurrence? How would you rank these things, in terms of importance?

The importance ranking should match your order of presentation, regardless of the order in which things took place. 

And when we talk about importance, think about what things are the most interesting or relevant or useful to your audience. Think about what is most unusual that took place. Think about what would have the most impact. Think about what people would be most curious about, or wanting to know about.

If you're not sure if your ranking of items based on newsworthiness is the best, here's a good rule of thumb: the item you wrote about the most is probably the one worth the best placement. The one you wrote about the least should probably be presented last, or maybe even not at all. 

I'd argue these were proper orders of importance. From the school meeting:

1. Board decides to keep current biology textbooks and not teach creationism

2 or 3. New budget approved that includes construction of a new school, pay raises
3 or 2. Board keeps summer school intact
4 or 5. Retiring teachers honored
4 or 5. School volunteers honored


Our job as journalists isn't to necessarily record everything, and put things in the order in which it took place. That's stenography. Rather, we decide what was most important, and rank things in the order of importance.

What did you do, and why?

Sleep: What's New Is The News

News isn't that something happened or took place. It's what, exactly, happened or took place.

Let's consider this pretend lede from a football game story:

MSU played Notre Dame in a football game Saturday.

That lede doesn't work, right? That's because the news isn't that a game was played; it's what happened at the game, something like MSU beat Notre Dame 84-0 on Saturday.

In the same way, this not-pretend lede doesn't work, either:

  One of the nation’s leaders in the study of sleep, Diana Gant, was interviewed on her expertise of sleep shortage within the average person. 

The news isn't that Gant talked about expertise; the news is what her expertise found! So a better lede would have said something like:

The average person needs nine to 10 hours of sleep per night, but actually gets only about seven hours, one of the nation's leaders in the study of sleep said.

What you're missing in each case is ultimate outcome and end result: who won or lost the game, and by how much in the former; how people should sleep versus how they actually sleep in the latter.

So if you're covering a city council meeting, for example, the news isn't that there was a meeting, or even that they discussed a specific issue at the meeting; it's what action took place regarding the issue at the meeting.

Let's be sure we're hooking our stories and our basic ledes on what happened, and not just that something happened.

Missing: What's New Is The News

News isn't that something happened or took place. It's what, exactly, happened or took place.

Let's consider this pretend lede from a football game story:

MSU played Notre Dame in a football game Saturday.

That lede doesn't work, right? That's because the news isn't that a game was played; it's what happened at the game, something like MSU beat Notre Dame 84-0 on Saturday.

In the same way, this not-pretend lede doesn't work, either:

The U.S. Department of Justice revealed the statistics of Michigan residents once reported as missing.

The news isn't that the justice department revealed statistics; the news is what those statistics were! So a better lede would have said something like, The U.S. Department of Justice found more than 57,000 Michigan residents were reported missing last year.


What you're missing in each case is ultimate outcome and end result: who won or lost the game, and by how much in the former; how many people are missing in the latter.

So if you're covering a city council meeting, for example, the news isn't that there was a meeting, or even that they discussed a specific issue at the meeting; it's what action took place regarding the issue at the meeting.

Let's be sure we're hooking our stories and our basic ledes on what happened, and not just that something happened.

Final Ledes: Get To The End Result

In most ledes, we want to aim for getting to the main point; that is, the end result and ultimate outcome. How did things end up?

This lede doesn't quite get there:
 
Til' death do us part is still too soon for Olivida Saleeby, who requested that the East Lansing Zoning Board allow her to bury her husband of 62 years in their backyard. 

In it, we know what the issue was, but we don't know how it ended up. The news isn't that the board was deciding the issue; it's how they decided it.

This lede goes the extra, necessary step:

“Rest in peace” remains easier said than done for Olivida Saleeby after the East Lansing Zoning Board denied her request to bury her husband in the backyard of their home.

Again, the news isn't that the burial was requested; it's that it was denied.

Meeting: Did You ...

... write about everything that happened at the meeting? Or just the things you thought were most newsworthy?

And how would you rank the newsworthiness of the items that took place at the meeting? These were the things, in order of occurrence, at the school board meeting:

1. Retiring teachers honored
2. New budget approved that includes construction of a new school, pay raises
3. Board keeps summer school intact
4. Board decides to keep current biology textbooks and not teach creationism
5. School volunteers honored


Does the order of importance match the order of occurrence? How would you rank these things, in terms of importance?

The importance ranking should match your order of presentation, regardless of the order in which things took place. 

And when we talk about importance, think about what things are the most interesting or relevant or useful to your audience. Think about what is most unusual that took place. Think about what would have the most impact. Think about what people would be most curious about, or wanting to know about.

If you're not sure if your ranking of items based on newsworthiness is the best, here's a good rule of thumb: the item you wrote about the most is probably the one worth the best placement. The one you wrote about the least should probably be presented last, or maybe even not at all. 

I'd argue these were proper orders of importance. From the school meeting:

1. Board decides to keep current biology textbooks and not teach creationism

2 or 3. New budget approved that includes construction of a new school, pay raises
3 or 2. Board keeps summer school intact
4 or 5. Retiring teachers honored
4 or 5. School volunteers honored


Our job as journalists isn't to necessarily record everything, and put things in the order in which it took place. That's stenography. Rather, we decide what was most important, and rank things in the order of importance.

What did you do, and why?

Meeting: Lede With The News

Still a bit of shakiness with identifying what the news really is for the lede. The news isn't that things were discussed; it's what was done or not done. Too many ledes or section starts defaulted to things were discussed. That's not the news, right?

This was a lede that went in that direction:

The Grand Ledge School Board discussed several issues at its meeting last night.

The problem here is that the news isn't that the school board addressed items; it's what the items were that were addressed. From this lede, you don't know if they gave out ribbons to old ladies or declared war on Russia. It's too vague. Those ledes sound like this imaginary football game story lede:

The MSU football team played a game Saturday night.


And that's a lede we'd never write, right? This next lede was better in that regard:

The Grand Ledge School Board discussed its budget, evolution vs. creationism in textbooks and summer school at its meeting last night.

You do identify what the issues were, but it still falls short of ultimate outcome and end result; that being what actions they took regarding these issues: for example, with the school board it's that they approved a new budget, considered teaching creationism, rejected canceling summer school.

That lede sounds like this modified game lede:

The MSU football team played Notre Dame Saturday night.

And that lede still doesn't go far enough toward ultimate outcome and end result.
This modified football lede does:

The MSU football team beat Notre Dame 63-0 Saturday night.

So, now let's apply that same fixation on end result on this school board lede:

The Grand Ledge School Board approved a new budget and voted to keep evolution-based textbooks and summer school at its meeting last night.

Much better, right? You now know precisely how things ended.

But it wasn't necessary that you include every element in your lede. A big part of journalism is deciding what is most newsworthy, and ranking that news accordingly (or even excluding things if you feel the newsworthiness was limited or simply not there).

This lede zeroed in on a single topic:

The Grand Ledge School Board put evolution ahead of creationism in opting to keep current textbooks at this week's board meeting.

And that's fine. I'm not saying the book issue was necessarily the lede item; I think valid arguments could be made for any of the items being the most interesting, relevant and/or useful. Readers don't need us to summarize a whole meeting; they could probably Google an agenda themselves. What they need journalists for is to make sense of the news and tell them what matters most.

So don't be afraid to make decisions, based on the evidence and what may impact or interest readers the most.

One lede took ultimate outcome beyond the meeting. Remember that while summer school would be kept this year, the board wants to study the matter? Well, this was one of your ledes:

The Grand Ledge School Board County Commission promised to consider the future of summer school after extending such classes for one year at yesterday's board meeting.

This is what I call a forward-looking lede; one that goes beyond what happened at an event, and is centered in what that means going forward, or what action is next as a result. When we talk about ultimate outcome, the outcome isn't that the board talked about it; it's that the board will talk about it some more. That's the latest and newest news.

Sleep: The News Is The News!

News isn't that something happened or took place. It's what, exactly, happened or took place.

Let's consider this pretend lede from a football game story:

MSU played Notre Dame in a football game Saturday.

That lede doesn't work, right? That's because the news isn't that a game was played; it's what happened at the game, something like MSU beat Notre Dame 84-0 on Saturday.

In the same way, this not-pretend lede doesn't work, either:

One of the nation’s leaders in the study of sleep, Diana Gant, was interviewed on her expertise of sleep shortage within the average person. 

The news isn't that Gant talked about expertise; the news is what her expertise found! So a better lede would have said something like:

The average person needs nine to 10 hours of sleep per night, but actually gets only about seven hours, one of the nation's leaders in the study of sleep said.

What you're missing in each case is ultimate outcome and end result: who won or lost the game, and by how much in the former; how people should sleep versus how they actually sleep in the latter.

So if you're covering a city council meeting, for example, the news isn't that there was a meeting, or even that they discussed a specific issue at the meeting; it's what action took place regarding the issue at the meeting.

Let's be sure we're hooking our stories and our basic ledes on what happened, and not just that something happened.

Missing: The News Is The News

News isn't that something happened or took place. It's what, exactly, happened or took place.

Let's consider this pretend lede from a football game story:

MSU played Notre Dame in a football game Saturday.

That lede doesn't work, right? That's because the news isn't that a game was played; it's what happened at the game, something like MSU beat Notre Dame 84-0 on Saturday.

In the same way, this not-pretend lede doesn't work, either:

The U.S. Department of Justice revealed the statistics of Michigan residents once reported as missing.

The news isn't that the justice department revealed statistics; the news is what those statistics were! So a better lede would have said something like, The U.S. Department of Justice found more than 57,000 Michigan residents were reported missing last year.


What you're missing in each case is ultimate outcome and end result: who won or lost the game, and by how much in the former; how many people are missing in the latter.

So if you're covering a city council meeting, for example, the news isn't that there was a meeting, or even that they discussed a specific issue at the meeting; it's what action took place regarding the issue at the meeting.

Let's be sure we're hooking our stories and our basic ledes on what happened, and not just that something happened.

Final Ledes: Get To The End Result

In most ledes, we want to aim for getting to the main point; that is, the end result and ultimate outcome. How did things end up?

This lede doesn't quite get there:
 
Til' death do us part is still too soon for Olivida Saleeby, who requested that the East Lansing Zoning Board allow her to bury her husband of 62 years in their backyard. 

In it, we know what the issue was, but we don't know how it ended up. The news isn't that the board was deciding the issue; it's how they decided it.

This lede goes the extra, necessary step:

“Rest in peace” remains easier said than done for Olivida Saleeby after the East Lansing Zoning Board denied her request to bury her husband in the backyard of their home.

Again, the news isn't that the burial was requested; it's that it was denied.

Meeting: Lede With The News

Still a bit of shakiness with identifying what the news really is for the lede. The news isn't that things were discussed; it's what was done or not done. Too many ledes or section starts defaulted to things were discussed. That's not the news, right?

This was a lede that went in that direction:

The Grand Ledge School Board discussed several issues at its meeting last night.

The problem here is that the news isn't that the school board addressed items; it's what the items were that were addressed. From this lede, you don't know if they gave out ribbons to old ladies or declared war on Russia. It's too vague. Those ledes sound like this imaginary football game story lede:

The MSU football team played a game Saturday night.


And that's a lede we'd never write, right? This next lede was better in that regard:

The Grand Ledge School Board discussed its budget, evolution vs. creationism in textbooks and summer school at its meeting last night.

You do identify what the issues were, but it still falls short of ultimate outcome and end result; that being what actions they took regarding these issues: for example, with the school board it's that they approved a new budget, considered teaching creationism, rejected canceling summer school.

That lede sounds like this modified game lede:

The MSU football team played Notre Dame Saturday night.

And that lede still doesn't go far enough toward ultimate outcome and end result.
This modified football lede does:

The MSU football team beat Notre Dame 63-0 Saturday night.

So, now let's apply that same fixation on end result on this school board lede:

The Grand Ledge School Board approved a new budget and voted to keep evolution-based textbooks and summer school at its meeting last night.

Much better, right? You now know precisely how things ended.

But it wasn't necessary that you include every element in your lede. A big part of journalism is deciding what is most newsworthy, and ranking that news accordingly (or even excluding things if you feel the newsworthiness was limited or simply not there).

This lede zeroed in on a single topic:

The Grand Ledge School Board put evolution ahead of creationism in opting to keep current textbooks at this week's board meeting.

And that's fine. I'm not saying the book issue was necessarily the lede item; I think valid arguments could be made for any of the items being the most interesting, relevant and/or useful. Readers don't need us to summarize a whole meeting; they could probably Google an agenda themselves. What they need journalists for is to make sense of the news and tell them what matters most.

So don't be afraid to make decisions, based on the evidence and what may impact or interest readers the most.

One lede took ultimate outcome beyond the meeting. Remember that while summer school would be kept this year, the board wants to study the matter? Well, this was one of your ledes:

The Grand Ledge School Board County Commission promised to consider the future of summer school after extending such classes for one year at yesterday's board meeting.

This is what I call a forward-looking lede; one that goes beyond what happened at an event, and is centered in what that means going forward, or what action is next as a result. When we talk about ultimate outcome, the outcome isn't that the board talked about it; it's that the board will talk about it some more. That's the latest and newest news.

Meeting: Did You ...

... write about everything that happened at the meeting? Or just the things you thought were most newsworthy?

And how would you rank the newsworthiness of the items that took place at the meeting? These were the things, in order of occurrence, at the school board meeting:

1. Retiring teachers honored
2. New budget approved that includes construction of a new school, pay raises
3. Board keeps summer school intact
4. Board decides to keep current biology textbooks and not teach creationism
5. School volunteers honored


Does the order of importance match the order of occurrence? How would you rank these things, in terms of importance?

The importance ranking should match your order of presentation, regardless of the order in which things took place. 

And when we talk about importance, think about what things are the most interesting or relevant or useful to your audience. Think about what is most unusual that took place. Think about what would have the most impact. Think about what people would be most curious about, or wanting to know about.

If you're not sure if your ranking of items based on newsworthiness is the best, here's a good rule of thumb: the item you wrote about the most is probably the one worth the best placement. The one you wrote about the least should probably be presented last, or maybe even not at all. 

I'd argue these were proper orders of importance. From the school meeting:

1. Board decides to keep current biology textbooks and not teach creationism

2 or 3. New budget approved that includes construction of a new school, pay raises
3 or 2. Board keeps summer school intact
4 or 5. Retiring teachers honored
4 or 5. School volunteers honored


Our job as journalists isn't to necessarily record everything, and put things in the order in which it took place. That's stenography. Rather, we decide what was most important, and rank things in the order of importance.

What did you do, and why?

Sleep: What's New Is The News

News isn't that something happened or took place. It's what, exactly, happened or took place.

Let's consider this pretend lede from a football game story:

MSU played Notre Dame in a football game Saturday.

That lede doesn't work, right? That's because the news isn't that a game was played; it's what happened at the game, something like MSU beat Notre Dame 84-0 on Saturday.

In the same way, this not-pretend lede doesn't work, either:

  One of the nation’s leaders in the study of sleep, Diana Gant, was interviewed on her expertise of sleep shortage within the average person. 

The news isn't that Gant talked about expertise; the news is what her expertise found! So a better lede would have said something like:

The average person needs nine to 10 hours of sleep per night, but actually gets only about seven hours, one of the nation's leaders in the study of sleep said.

What you're missing in each case is ultimate outcome and end result: who won or lost the game, and by how much in the former; how people should sleep versus how they actually sleep in the latter.

So if you're covering a city council meeting, for example, the news isn't that there was a meeting, or even that they discussed a specific issue at the meeting; it's what action took place regarding the issue at the meeting.

Let's be sure we're hooking our stories and our basic ledes on what happened, and not just that something happened.

Missing: What's New Is The News

News isn't that something happened or took place. It's what, exactly, happened or took place.

Let's consider this pretend lede from a football game story:

MSU played Notre Dame in a football game Saturday.

That lede doesn't work, right? That's because the news isn't that a game was played; it's what happened at the game, something like MSU beat Notre Dame 84-0 on Saturday.

In the same way, this not-pretend lede doesn't work, either:

The U.S. Department of Justice revealed the statistics of Michigan residents once reported as missing.

The news isn't that the justice department revealed statistics; the news is what those statistics were! So a better lede would have said something like, The U.S. Department of Justice found more than 57,000 Michigan residents were reported missing last year.


What you're missing in each case is ultimate outcome and end result: who won or lost the game, and by how much in the former; how many people are missing in the latter.

So if you're covering a city council meeting, for example, the news isn't that there was a meeting, or even that they discussed a specific issue at the meeting; it's what action took place regarding the issue at the meeting.

Let's be sure we're hooking our stories and our basic ledes on what happened, and not just that something happened.

Final Ledes: Get To The End Result

In most ledes, we want to aim for getting to the main point; that is, the end result and ultimate outcome. How did things end up?

This lede doesn't quite get there:
 
Til' death do us part is still too soon for Olivida Saleeby, who requested that the East Lansing Zoning Board allow her to bury her husband of 62 years in their backyard. 

In it, we know what the issue was, but we don't know how it ended up. The news isn't that the board was deciding the issue; it's how they decided it.

This lede goes the extra, necessary step:

“Rest in peace” remains easier said than done for Olivida Saleeby after the East Lansing Zoning Board denied her request to bury her husband in the backyard of their home.

Again, the news isn't that the burial was requested; it's that it was denied.